


A Tantalizing Fantasy

by MRTL85, Shadowfire_RavenPheonix



Series: Fade to Black [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Anal, Awkwardness, Blushing, Bottom Cullen Rutherford, Dom/sub Undertones, Dream Sex, Embarrassment, M/M, Male Slash, Oral, dream m/m, porn without much plot, suggestion of threesome F/M/M, vivid dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 02:36:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4246251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MRTL85/pseuds/MRTL85, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowfire_RavenPheonix/pseuds/Shadowfire_RavenPheonix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leona Trevelyan, the herald of Andraste, has her own version of a intimate dream that involves Commander Cullen and Master Pavus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tantalizing Fantasy

**Author's Note:**

> Pt. 2 of the 'Fade to Black' series

**A Tantalizing Fantasy**

 

I shall not be left to wander the drifting roads of the Fade, For there is no darkness, nor death either, in the Maker's Light, And nothing that He has wrought shall be lost.

-Canticle of Trials 1:14

 

 

Leona Trevelyan was perched cross-legged upon the settee in her quarters. She had been pouring over multiple documents pertaining to Adamant fortress until she thought her eyes would begin to bleed. How much more of this could she take? This was worse than watching Nugs hump! Pinching the bridge of her nose in exhaustion, she sighed heavily and sat upright, giving a much needed stretch for her sore muscles. Leaning against the plush green fabric that covered the expanse of her couch, a loud yawn escaped her, echoing among the brickwork and momentarily drowning out the crackling of the fire in its hearth. Sweet Andraste, she was tired.

A draft of cold, night air swept over her shoulders like a wall of ice and she shivered violently, noting she had forgotten to close one of the doors to the balconies. Unfurling her slender legs from beneath her, she stood and padded her way across the soft carpet towards the door, shutting it with a soft click. Making a small detour to the foot of her bed before returning to the couch, she picked up the thick spare blanket she always kept there and wrapped it around her lithe shoulders. The thick wool instantly brought warmth to her tepid skin and she sighed at how cozy she felt now _._ Sitting back onto the settee, she looked at the mountain of papers and groaned.

 _One more night spent burning the candle at both ends,_ she thought to herself. Another yawn unexpectedly fell from her lips. This was not going to be fun. At all.

Picking up a requisition order for the Western Approach from a pile to her right, she began skimming over the details until her eyes started to blur from the lack of sleep. Straining to keep her eyes focused, she blinked furiously, hoping it would help. When it did nothing but make her vision worse, she resulted in shutting her eyes. _I'll only close them for a moment until my vision sorts itself out,_ she reasoned with herself.

What she didn't expect, was to fall immediately into a deep sleep, the requisition paper still firmly clutched within her long fingers and her head lulling against the soft green arm of the settee.

 

~AtF~

 

Leona sat up from her slouched position, and rubbed her eyes. Ethereal light from the moon filtered through her windows, eerily illuminating her quarters as shadows danced upon the floor from the firelight. Stretching the sleepiness away, she gave a large yawn before realizing she had once again fallen asleep upon the couch.

  _Maferath's balls, no wonder I feel sore!_

Stiffly rising up off the settee, she ambled towards her chest of drawers to change into some fresh night clothes. She had just gotten her nightgown on, when a hunger pang shot through her stomach; it pitched and rolled with a loud growl and she quickened her pace, desperate to fill her stomach. She should have grabbed something to eat when dinner was announced, but she wanted to get a start on the enormous stack of papers that were located across the room. There was just so little time between looking for Corypheus, trying to stop all the rifts from letting demons escape the fade, and now trying to figure out how to plan the inquisitions attack on adamant. It left little time for things like sleeping...or eating for that matter.

Traipsing towards her bedroom stairs and urgently in search of food, Leona let her mahogany hair fall in waves about her shoulders as the door to her bedroom creaked open. The crows cawed loudly and flapped their wings at her intrusion in the tower hallway, as she made her way to the last door before the main hall. Stupid bloody birds. They're always in here making a mess, and a racket for that matter, every time someone passed through the doors! She should really talk to the masons about getting the gaping holes fixed.

The door to the throne room opened with a groan and she stepped inside the hall; it was uncharacteristically quiet for a change and her footsteps echoed off of the stone walls.

 _I hope there is some leftovers from supper that I can pilfer from the kitchens without the cooks noticing,_ she pondered while turning and walking to the door that led to Josephine's study and the war room. Once inside, she headed down the steps in the direction of the kitchen, humming merrily as she went. _I cannot wait to see what the cooks have left_ , she giggled to herself, _I hope they have something that can satisfy my sweet tooth too!_

Rounding the corner from the stone stairwell, she saw something that made her stop short; ceasing her tune as a shocked expression plastered itself upon her face. _Why in all of creation was the door to her personal library ajar,_ She wondered.

That's when she heard two low, muffled voices reach her ears; two masculine timbers she knew quite well, belonging none other than to Dorian Pavus and Commander Cullen.

She stepped toward the crack in the door. Still not entirely believing the evidence of her ears. She'd given Dorian the key to her private library some time ago after he'd sworn to her that he wouldn't mistreat her books the way he did the ones in the inquisition's public library, but what in the Maker's Name was Cullen doing in there with him?

There came a soft thump and a quiet groan and she hurried forward her hand reaching out for the door knob only to freeze in place when she looked through the gap and saw the Commander and the Tevinter mage pressed back against the table in the center of the room...locked in a passionate kiss.

Her eyes grew round with shock as she watched one of Cullen's big warrior's hands thread through the dark silken tresses of Dorian's fastidiously styled hair. His other hand slid along the Mage's lower back, far lower than would be allowed for in polite company. For his part Dorian's be-ringed fingers were likewise engaged in tugging and mussing the Commander's tight curls.

The sight of Dorian's elegant long fingers as they set about making a mess of the Commander's golden hair sent a sickening roil of envy coursing thought her gut even as the men's embrace made her nethers ache and grow wet with arousal. She'd lost count of the times she dreamed of her own fingers carding thought those tantalizing curls and to see Dorian doing as she had always wanted...

The Commander broke the kiss, his fingers curling around the short hair at the back of Dorian's head and tugging sharply until their lips and tongues parted. The Mage's head was tilted back by the commander's firm grip, his eyes hooded as he panted into the space between them, his tongue darting forward to flick over the scar at the corner of the former Templar's lips.

"Eager, Master Pavus?" Cullen husked, a smirk playing over his lips

"For you? Always." Dorian panted right back, unashamedly grinding up against Cullen's body in a way Leona could only describe as lewd.

"Then how about you put that eager, hungry, mouth of yours to it's proper use hmmm?" Cullen said in a voice that positively dripped sex. It made Leona's knees go weak, and seemed to have a similar effect on Dorian, for the Altus went boneless and fell to his own knees at the Commander's words; moaning brokenly as he did so. For the first time Leona noted the fact that the Commander was bereft of his usual armor as Dorian sunk down in front of him. The Mage's slender fingers dragged over the open collared linen shirt Cullen was wearing, before they began hastily tugging at the ties that held the Commander's breeches in place; caging what looked a very _potent_ erection.

Leona simply stared. She knew she should leave. She didn't want to see this... but at the same time she _did_. It was some twisted masochistic desire to see the Commander like this despite it being Dorian kneeling before him and not herself.

Dorian nuzzled into the thick bulge, humming his appreciation as his fingers fought with the knots, and causing Cullen's hips to kick forwards. "Now who's the eager one?" Dorian teased, finally mastering the laces and wasting no time in freeing the Commander's cock from the confines of his clothes. Leona's breathe caught in her throat her hand flying to cover her open mouth at the sight of the thick rod of Cullen's manhood as it sprang forth. It was impressively large; dauntingly so. Leona knew that if she was ever be faced with such a... Mouthful as that, she'd probably have run for the hills; Dorian on the other hand...

Leona's eyes grew even wider, if that were possible, to see the Altus lick his lips before he ran his tongue out in a facsimile of a cat-like yawn and expertly guided the swollen pink head into the warm confines of his mouth.

The sound of the table scraping across the floor as Cullen suddenly leaned back into it, was loud enough to make Leona jump, thought not enough to completely cover the groan of satisfaction that passed Cullen's lips as Dorian hollowed his cheeks and began working his mouth over the Commander's thick length.

"Yes." Cullen hissed, in a voice that saw Leona's smalls flooded with desire, as he threaded his hands once more through Dorian's -now positively ruined- hair. "Maker Dorian! So good." Cullen purred through his teeth as his fingers massaged-over the Mage's scalp, as Dorian far hand came up to grip the base stroking the remainder of Cullen's length in perfect collaboration with the moments of his head and mouth.

His other hand was not idle however ever; as Leona watched, Dorian's near hand tugged impatiently at the commander’s breeches until the fabric fell free from where it was caught between his backside and the table. Leona felt her teeth biting into her lower-lip as her own breathing picked up then pace until she was panting right along with the former Templar as the curve of one full round buttock was exposed to her gaze, Dorian's hand smoothing over the firm hard flesh in a way she hand always dreamed of doing herself. His fingers alternately caressing softly over the skin then digging in with cruel purpose until Cullen groaned and almost flinched away from the Mage's grip. This seemed to have been the Altus' intent for the moment Cullen cheeks were clear of the table edge that hand slid further round behind and disappeared between the dark cleft of the commander's rump.

Whatever the Altus then did with those long slender fingers of his, had an instantaneous effect on the warrior before him. “Dorian!” Cullen choked out, his body sagging weakly as his knees trembled and he was forced to pull one of his hands from Dorian’s hair in order to catch himself on the table once more even as his hips bucked hard into the Mage's eager and receptive mouth.

A lewd sounding pop, and Dorian pulled free of Cullen's cock; his rich chuckle filling the room and sending entirely unexpected and shocking shivers down Leona's spine. “So ready for me.” He purred of form where he knelt before him, the flex of his arm finally making it clear to the Inquisitor just what he was doing beyond her view with that hand. Cullen just moaned in response; deep and low, and making the very air of the library vibrate with his desire so that it buzzed against Leona's skin and rattled within her own chest. “Pity, this is unlikely to go any further.” He teased his long nose nuzzling along the slick and shiny head of Cullen's saliva coated cock before he dragged his lips teasingly over it once more. “But my hands are frightfully busy just now and with these pesky breeches of yours in my way...” Dorian sigh dramatic as he returned his lips to properly encompass the commander twitching length.

It was like Dorian had set a branding iron to Cullen's skin for suddenly the big man was struggling and cursing frantically as he desperately tried to rid himself of his boots so that he might also be free of the cloth binding his legs together. He managed it a moment before Dorian did something that saw him sagging bonelessly once more and crying out hoarsely with appreciation.

"That's it, just like that! Maker! Please Dorian!" At Cullen's words Dorian's far hand abandoned the base of the commander’s cock taking a firm grip on his hip instead and making Leona gasp quietly to see the mage sink all the way down the full length of him; his long elegant throat working each time his nose disappeared into the nest of dark blond curls.

Soon Dorian's neck and head were working over time, but Leona barely spared the Tevinter a glance after Cullen started to really moan and plead for release. After that her eyes were transfixed by Cullen's face as his head fell back and he panted and prayed up at the ceiling, his eyes hooded and breath growing ragged. Leona felt her own chest growing tight; her own breath a sallow mirror of the Commander's.

Her eyes devoured his expression as he drew closer and closer to the ragged edge of his climax; both desperate to see it happen, and horrified with herself for watching it.

Then it was happening.

Cullen suddenly lifted his head, his teeth gritted, air pouring though his flared nostrils as both his hands clutched at Dorian's head; shoving the mage tight against him and holding him there. Moment’s later he was panting out a sobbing sort of cry from between parted lips, as his body shuddered with the strength of his climax, his eyes still closed tight.

Slowly the tension ebbed from Cullen's neck back and shoulders, and he released Dorian; the mage sagging backward, chuckling and gasping for air as he licked his lips clean. Sure that that would be the end of it, and feeling the heat burning her cheek that she had dared to spy on them, Leona slowly began to back away from the crack in the door as quietly as she could manage. But she had not yet turned her back upon the two men in their compromised state when Dorian spoke again; words that froze her in her tracks

“On your back on the table, dearest Commander, and let's see if I can't encourage you to sing for me.”

 _Well_ , said a quite little devil's voice in the back of Leona's mind, _I wouldn't want to miss that; he has such and lovely singing voice..._

Cullen didn't seem to want to miss out on the opportunity either for he all but scrambled up onto the tabletop, grabbing hold of his bare knees with rough and calloused swords-man hands and spreading himself wide for Dorian’s sight. Leona didn't no whether to be grateful or disappointed that the angle of the desk prevented her from seeing what the mage saw. On the one hand how would she even look then Commander in the eye again after having seen such a thing; but on the other, she'd already seen enough to ensure that was going to be a difficult enough prospect as it was come morning.. so why not go a little further?

Dorian hummed his appreciation of Cullen's eagerness as he stood, his own breeches shoved down just passed his waist and his cock in hand and being slicked with some substance he'd apparently conjured by magic. “Mmmm. I do love to see such a big brute of a warrior laid out and eager for me. Shall I make you beg for it as well, Commander?”

“Dorian.” Cullen growled in warning, his hips shifting on the table to present and more enticing view. It was enough to convince the mage; he stepped up between Cullen's spread knees one hand lining himself up with the other man's entrance while the other braced against the table top as he leaned forward, his posture not unlike when he was leaning down over one of her bigger heavier tomes. Looking at him now, Leona knew she was never going to be able to see him reading at that table again without thinking of this. Then the mage was pressing forward into his partner and Leona's knees went weak at the sound of their combined voices moaning out a mutual agony. Dorian's shuddering tenor gasps weaving and dancing around Cullen's longer drawn out baritone groan making a music that left Leona's core quaking with a shameful want.

  
Slowly the mage rocked his hips sinking deeper and deeper into the warrior, until they were finally flush. Again Leona found herself barely able to spare a glance for her best friend at the sight of her General as once again his body grew taught; the tension in his every fiber causing the muscles and tendons to crack and pop under the strain. The skin on his face and chest steadily growing dark and flushed.

Maker, how she wished she could see his expression just then; but the angle of the table their position on it and her own relatively low crouch at then library door meant that his profile was all that was available to her, unless he turned his head she wasn't going to see any more of that lovely little grimace…

As if the Maker had heard her plea at that very moment Dorian drew back for the first time and came back with brutal haste. The brutality of that first thrust shocked Cullen into crying out; his back arching up of the polished wood. When Dorian withdrew again and left the warrior gasping and panting for breath as his head fell to the side and Leona was granted the perfect view.

Leona's hand raced to cover her mouth when the sheer loveliness of his expression made her gasp. A quiet sound she was sure couldn't have been heard over the grunts and groans of the two men as they rutted on her library table, but apparently she was wrong.

“We appear to have gained an audience Commander” Dorian huffed, his voice was ragged with his exertions but the tone of his clear amusement was still very present, as he continued to piston his hips; driving into Cullen with ruthless determination. Cullen's eyes snapped open and met her own as Dorian leaned down toward his ear and purred, “Shall we invite her to join us?”

Leona's eyes popped wide as dinner plates when Cullen's stare locked in on her own before he deliberately ran a sinfully suggestive tongue over his lips; one hand reaching out toward her as though to beckon her to him and his golden eyes burning with a preternatural brightness. At last, her paralysis broke, and she fled from the two men as though they'd suddenly become pair of daemons sent to tempt her.

She raced headlong back to her quarters; her late-night peckishness completely forgotten in her panic. She slammed the door behind her and bolted up the stairs tripping over the top step – the floor rushed up to meet her – and Leona sat up on the settee with a jolt, moments before her head connected with the floorboards, the many papers of her reporters fluttering toward the floor after her violent wakening had sent them scattering in every direction.

Maker's Mercy! A dream! It had all just been a dream! With an exhausted and relieved sigh she collapsed back onto the little sage green couch ignoring the scattered papers in favor of simply falling back into the oblivion of -this time- a thankfully dreamless sleep.

 

~AtF~

 

A groan escaped Leona's lips as she rolled onto her side, determined to stay under the spell of sleep. A draft brushed past her and she huddled further into herself, still residing in the space between wakefulness and the fade. _Ugh, just five more minutes. That's all I want after the night I've had…_

Then, her thoughts began to collect, stacking like bricks until all she could see was the dream from the night previous. That terrible, wonderful dream. Cullen. Dorian. Her personal library. Rutting frantically upon her desk. Their invitation for her to join.

She sat bolt upright, a deep blush fresh on her freckled cheeks. The bright morning sun shone through the French doors of her quarters and she retracted slightly. Her eyes squinted at the bright assault, her slender hand capping her forehead to shade against the offending light.  

Maker's breath, she was still curled up upon the couch. In her clothes. _Ugh, not again!_

Her hand slid over her fair coloured face, scrubbing the sleep away with her palm. She rose slowly, her body groaning and creaking like the trunk of an ancient tree as she moved towards her wash basin and her chest of drawers.

Washing and dressing unceremoniously, she made her way towards the main hall for breakfast. Her stomach was growling noisily as she made her way through the passage from her chamber, her stomach adamant that it be fed right away.

Grabbing a cup of tea and a bowl of porridge, she found a place to sit with her simple meal, lost in the confines of her mind until two female voices infiltrated her thoughts: Josephine and Leliana.

“Good morning! How are you this fine day my dear Inquisitor?” Josephine smiled graciously from across the table.

“I'm...well, thank you. And you?”

Leliana's melodic voice intruded.“Inquisitor, do I detect a hint of uncertainty? Is something the matter?”

Leona, wanting desperately to confide in someone about her unusual dream, leaned forward.

“Not per say, but I did have a very... _vivid..._ dream last night.” her voice came out just above a whisper.

“Oh do tell! Was it filled with unrequited love perhaps? Or was it a dream of passion...” Josephine practically fell into the seat beside Leona, chomping at the bit for anything that resembled gossip.

“Well, you might say that...” Leona glanced from side to side, making sure no others were in earshot.

“I may or may not have dreamt that the Commander and...” her voice faltered still unable to truly come to terms with the strange dream herself, “...and _Dorian_ were being…well, _intimate_ in my private library. I was watching them from the door. It was all very...intense. They saw me watching and-” She blushed, holding the rapt attention of the two other woman looking at her with wide mischievous eyes, “-and they asked me to join them. It seemed so real. _Too_ real.” The blush grew even hotter on Leona's face, colouring her cheeks what must have surely been a brilliant shade of crimson.

“The Commander? And Dorian? You voyeur you, catching them in the act like that. Our inquisitor is a little minx, Josie!” Leliana chuckled.

“I quite agree Leliana! I dare say she might even be subconsciously pining after one of them too. Oh! I bet it's the Commander! Do you harbour any tender feelings towards him, your worship? I bet you do!” Josephine's excitement was brimming over as she leaned closer to her and let out a giggle of her own.

Leona's already flushed face deepened in colour, if that was possible, at the mention of harboring feelings for the Commander. Avoiding their gaze, she began to rise from her seat and walk in the direction of the war room. Not sure on how to reply without making a fool of herself, she purposely ignored the question for the time being and hoped that her advisers would too.

Leliana gasped. “You do, don't you! I knew it! I've been watching you sneak looks at him when you think no one else is looking!”

Flagging down a recruit before leaving the main hall, Leona told him to find the Commander and ask him to meet them in the war room at his earliest convenience.

_Why in Andraste's name did I think that these two would leave it be? I must have taken one to many blows to the head! I guess I'll just have to tell them, if only to get them off my back!_

“Yes, alright, I am interested in him, okay? Now can we please get on with today's business?” She grumbled, exasperated with the interrogation Josie and Leliana were giving her.

Making their way to the war table, they moved around the dominating piece of furniture until they placed themselves behind it, waiting for the last member of her council to arrive. Leona only hoped her blushes hand cooled enough by then that he wouldn't notice.

The heavy door creaked open right on cue and there was Commander Cullen, standing in the doorway quite motionless, and looking more than somewhat mortified as if he had just paraded around Skyhold in his small clothes.

Leliana eyed Leona cheekily, before attempting to tease the Commander into action. “Ah, Cullen. We were just talking about you!” She said with a smirk.

Without a word or a reason for doing so, the man abruptly turned on his heel and for all intents and purposes fled back down the hallway.

"Well, that was certainly the most... unusual exit the Commander has ever made. I wonder what spurred such an action?" Josie questioned, shooting a glance at Leliana.

Leliana smirked. "Perhaps he was just as embarrassed as you, Herald. Maybe he has some amorous feelings as well?"

They watched through the door as Cullen reached the end of the corridor and the doors to Josephine's office, when the latch was opened from the other side and Dorian stood before him. The Commander's face flushed and deeper crimson as the Altus began to speak before he went white as a sheet. Cullen stuttered out a reply, completely avoiding Dorian's gaze before shouldered his way past Master Pavus and headed for the main hall at breakneck speed.

Dorian shrugged as he watched the Commander dart away, then sauntered into the war room; an aristocratic air oozing from every pore as if he was the cat who just got the cream. "Good morning fair Maidens! My, but the Commander seemed exceptionally flustered today, stuttering and the like. I only hope he can find some way to put that eager mouth of his to something more like it's proper use." His gaze then caught Leona's own; those smoky hazel eyes of his twinkling with suggestive intent, as he gave the Inquisitor a scandalous wink.

 _That can't be... He didn't just say that. Couldn't have_. A flash of memory filtered into her mind. Cullen's eyes dark with want as he shoved the Tevinter mage down, almost those exact same words coming from the commander's scared lips...

Dorian went on to give some new information on the Venatori before taking his leave, after which Leliana tried to continue the meeting, but with the Commander absent, it became rather clear that it was pointless to try and carry on without him. It was probably for the best too, because Leona's mind remained entirely preoccupied with Dorian's odd and ambiguous comment, so it wasn't as though she could manage even then pretense of staying focused.

The words played over and over in her head; first in Cullen's ragged aroused voice from her dream and then in Dorian's calm and cultured tones with that sly hint of a suggestion. And that wink! Like he _knew_ she'd recognize the phrase! But... that wasn't possible! It had been a dream...

Hadn't it?

Josephine seemed to recognize her distraction and the ultimate futility of trying to carry on with not only the Commander of the Inquisition’s forces not in attendance, but the Inquisitor herself essentially just as absent. She went on to suggest they reconvene later when they all had more of their wits about them. Vaguely, Leona agreed, still lost in her tumbling thoughts. She drifted from the war room, that last impossible idea lodged in the forefront of her mind where she couldn't help but worry at it.

If it hadn't been and dream then..

Andraste's mercy! No! It _had_ to have been a dream!... right? Dorian and The Commander weren't- They couldn't actually be...

But the look on Cullen's face when he'd seen her at the war table when he'd come in... It had been the look of a man acutely embarrassed by something. The look of a man who'd been caught doing something he shouldn't, almost as if...

So many conflicting thoughts and emotions were at war within her, making it hard to breathe even in the icy blast of fresh mountain air coming from the entrance of the war room. Not even the cold wind that cut into her from that damnable hole in the wall seemed able to shock her out of her turmoil as she woodenly placed one foot in front of the other.

"Inquisitor?.......Inquisitor!" Dorian called from his place by the wall, where he'd obviously been lounging about waiting for her.

"...Hmm? Oh. Yes, Dorian?" Leona attempted to cast the remnants of her alarming suspicions aside with sharp a shake of her head.

"So glad to see the meeting wrapped up quickly! I have come across the most miraculous thing. A book. I know what your thinking, Inquisitor. A book? How original Dorian. Nevertheless, hear me out. It's from Alexius' library and I think you'll find that it will be of more than and little help to our cause. But, alas, I can see from the multiple times I tried and failed to get your attention, and then vacant look creeping into your eyes that your mind has clearly run off with you again far from musty books. So, when your done fantasizing about our dear Commander, come find me and I would be delighted to share my findings with you." He then politely excused himself and headed back toward the stairs, then one would seem, back to his own secluded corner of the library in moments.

Leona just stood in the wake of his departure in a stunned sort of silence as her mind latched onto his words and tone when referring to Cullen.

 _Our dear Commander._ That settled it, she must have been sleepwalking and wandered into something I shouldn't have. _How in the Maker's name am I ever going to look either of them in the eye after this without being utterly embarrassed?_

A tumult of emotions surged forth to overwhelm her: grief, desire, lust, sadness, the bitter bite of envy... the list went on and they all roiled and fought for ascendance in her mind.

She hardly even noticed when her feet began to move; her lips automatically bidding the odd vague and vacant greeting to those random nobles who sought her attention as she drifted across the great hall in Dorian's wake.

Two voices rose up above the general murmur of conversation and forcibly dragged Leona's attention back to the here and now as what sounded like a great argument gained in strength and volume. Realizing who those voices belonged to, she rushed over to try and put an end to it. After all, the last time Varric and Cassandra had gotten this heated in their bickering, it had nearly come to blows.

She was too late apparently.

By the time she'd pushed through the gather crowd of onlookers, Cassandra had Varric lifted clean off the ground with a growl, her fists in a death grip upon his coat and tunic, leaving his heavy black booted feet dangling in mid-air.

Even amidst her alarm at then situation Leona had to be impressed at the other woman's upper body strength that she had manage such a feat.

"Well, if this doesn’t just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You know, if you wanted a kiss Seeker, you could've just asked." Varric quipped.

"What!-I!- NO!" Cassandra shouted, eyes widening in alarm at his wise-cracking as if she feared he was serious; her fingers let loose from the fabric that was clenched in her fists and he dropped to the floor with a thud. Her face went white as a sheet and she stood, frozen on the spot, as he laughed mercilessly at her obvious discomfort.

"ahem." Leona cleared her throat, trying to discreetly distract the two of them.

"I swear on Bianca, Inquisitor, I didn't do anything to provoke this kind of behavior from our Seeker. I have no idea why she has her knickers in such a twist!”

“You must have said something to-” Leona started, crossing her arms, she knew Cassandra had a short fuse but it still must have required some aggravation the then dwarfs part to reach this point; and Varric _was_ forever attempting to provoke her.

“On my mother's honor! All I said was good morning to her and she practically took my head off!"

"You were staring at me in a strange fashion. I don't appreciate being leered at Varric, especially from the likes of you." Cassandra sneered in disdain.

"You can't be serious, Seeker. I _leered_ at you? Don't go flattering yourself!"

Leona jumped into action, stepping between them before things could escalate again, and put a hand on either of their shoulders. "Now, now, you two play nice. I don't want any bloodshed-" But they plowed right over top of her.

“I know what I saw Dwarf!”

“Oh go suck on a Pommel-nut! I wouldn’t sheath one of Bianca’s shafts in you, let alone my own!

"Come here you little shit, I'm going to wring your neck!" Cassandra snarled and Leona barely managed to restrain her as she took a wild swing at the dwarf.

"That's the stuff Varric! Make sure she's good and mad for our sparring session later! She hits so much _harder_ when she's hot for it." Bull's baritone bellowing laugh rumbled over the heads of the gathered audience; cleaving through the thick air of tense aggression like an axe.

Leona watched as Cassandra's face become devoid of all colour and she stopped dead at the Bull's words.

Slowly she turned around, as his sheer bulk overshadowed her. "B-Bull?? Wh- what are you doing here?!" she said, sounding unusually flustered, as all of the anger which had animated her moments before simply seemed to desert her leaving her looking deflated and small, like a wilted flower.

"Forgotten Already? I'm hurt Cass! I was looking for you; you said you wanted to spar this morning remember?” then he smirked, at the Seekers' nonplussed expression, “And it looks like you're in need of a good pounding to loosen you up." Then, The Iron Bull winked at her; his solid muscles flexing in a proud on display as he posed for her.

"I- I- must go." She excused herself feebly, astonishingly flustered at Bulls attempt to tease her; Cassandra's cheeks practically glowed scarlet before she took off like a lightning bolt down the front steps and disappeared from sight.

"What in the void is up with her?" Varric asked as he set about righting his clothes.

"I have no idea." Leona muttered back, looking after Cassandra with concern. Bull just shrugged his massive shoulders before heading to the shortcut of the courtyard through Solas' rotunda; his horns scraping slightly upon the door frame as he went.

 

~AtF~

 

No one saw Cassandra until the following evening. Upon further investigation, Leona learned from Lady Josephine that the Seeker had decided to take a very long walk in order to 'calm her thoughts' as she put it. Trying to pry further as to why she had been so flustered in the first place, Cassandra merely told her that some things were better left unsaid and walked away without another word.

_This is all very peculiar. Something is going on around Skyhold and it has the Seeker and everyone else acting strange, but I can't quite put my finger on it._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
